The Many-Headed Hydra

Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic

Peter Linebaugh & Marcus Rediker 2001 433p 6.5 x 9

Spanning an impressive 200 years, this books takes us from the early 1600s (and the years leading up to the English Civil War) through the golden age of piracy, through the tumultuous years leading up to the American Revolution (a lot less white and manly than you may have been lead to believe) up to the Great Awakening following the betrayal of the American Revolution. All along hierarchical relationships are being imposed from above, while sailors, sex workers, slaves and others refuse from below. This is the story of the creation of Race. How we came to think of ourselves and others as black, white, indian, etc and all the fucked-up things that go with that. An amazing book – what history should be.